Andrew Gardner – Chief Executive Officer

How long have you been working for Harmoni?
I joined WCI in 1999, and then became Chief Executive of Harmoni following the merger in 2005. 

What is the best part of your job?
Seeing the company and its people starting to make a real difference to the NHS and its patients.

Why do you enjoy working for Harmoni?
Because I work with so many people committed to patient care.

How does your role affect Harmoni's vision of 'treating patients as family'?
Everything I do needs to be done in the context of this ethos. This means everything I do, whether it is about supporting staff, developing new contracts, reviewing the finances or recruiting new employees, has to keep the vision as the guiding principle.

Background...
I worked for many years in the IT industry for major US, German, UK and Japanese companies which allowed me to see completely different cultural approaches to the same problems. I saw that British innovation and design is world class, but that creating a world class platform in the UK is very difficult because of the size of the market.

A day in the life...
I meet with customers /Department of Health officials, managers, staff and have lots of travel to get between meetings.

A little-know fact about you...
I am the son of a preacher man.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
An educational psychologist.